August 29, 2018
UM Verbs in Chamorro
UM verbs are a class of verbs that use the Yo’-type pronouns as the Subject pronouns – when the pronoun is the subject of the sentence. They are called UM verbs here because the affix um is used to conjugate these verbs. There are actually two affixes that are used to conjugate UM verbs, the first is UM and the second is MAN. Both will be explained here.
To conjugate with UM, there are two cases you must look for:
1) If the verb begins with a vowel simply prefix the verb with um and you have your first conjugation.
Example: o’mak -> umo’mak to bathe
2) If the verb begins with a consonant, you insert um into the first Consonant-Vowel pair in the first syllable.
Example: kati -> kumati to cry
The forms umo’mak and kumati are the “completed” forms of the verbs.
Umo’mak yo’. I bathed. / I showered.
Kumati yo’. I cried.
To conjugate the “continuous” form of the verb, the verb needs to undergo reduplication. Reduplication is when we repeat a syllable in a word.
1) With vowel-initial words, we simply need to reduplicate the vowel, but separating the duplicates with a glottal stop.
Example: o’mak -> umo’mak -> umo’o’mak
2) If the word begins with a consonant, we take the syllable that is the second to the last syllable in the word.
Example:
kånta -> kumånta -> kumakant. ; kanta (2 syllables) to sing
hugåndo -> humugåndo -> humugagando ; hugando (3 syllables) to play
NOTE: If the syllable contains more than just a consonant and vowel pair (like GAN in hugando), you need to duplicate only the first consonant-vowel pair.
The forms umo’o’mak, kumakanta, and humugagando are the “continuous” forms of the verbs.
Umo’o’mak yo’. I’m bathing.
Kumåkanta yo’. I’m singing.
Humugågando yo’. I’m playing.
Dual Case
When a plural pronouns is used with a verb conjugated with um the pronoun refers to only TWO people.
Examples:
Bumabaila ham. We are dancing. (Someone and I are dancing.)
Bumabaila hit. We are dancing. (You and I are dancing.)
Bumabaila hamyo. You two are dancing.
Bumabaila siha. They (2) are dancing.
Plural Case
To express the subject refers to three or more people, we use the plural prefix MAN.
Example:
Humånao siha. They went. (2)
Manhånao siha. They went. (3+)
When the prefix man is attached to words that start with a specific sound, certain changes can occur that may result in a completely new word. Look at the following examples.
| maN | Verb Initial | Result | Example |
| man | b | mb | man + baila -> mambaila |
| man | p | mp | man + peska -> mampeska |
| man | f | mam | man + faisen -> mamaisen |
| man | t | man | man + ta’yok -> mana’yok |
| man | s | mañ | man + såga -> mañåga |
| man | ch | mañ | man + chochu -> mañochu |
| man | k | mang | man + kåti -> mangåti |
| man | g | mangg | man + gimen -> manggimen |
List of UM Verbs
| kånta – sing baila – dance kåti – cry tånges – weep chålek – laugh chefla – whistle chochu – eat gimen – drink dåndan – to make music såga – to stay, to reside ekungok – to listen | o’mak – to bathe nangu – to swim kuentos – to talk peska – to fish pasehu – to cruise hugåndo – to play hånao – to go tohge – to stand essitan – to jest liliko’ – to go around ta’yok – to jump |
